In various components of academic activities, conducting research and publication is emphasized. Due to this, the primary objective of the research is to contribute to knowledge through the expansion of what already exists (Pietilia et al., 2020). Moreover, this knowledge can only be useful if it is disseminated to other scholars and researchers. Hence, in academic research and writing, researchers are expected to engage in the appropriate behavior when assessing or distributing results. Ethics act as a branch of philosophy that involves the conduct of individuals and provides a guideline to the standard of behavior of individuals and the relationships that they have with each other (Swain, 2016). Research ethics acts as a form of applied ethics that consists of established rules and guidelines that describes their conduct. Research is essential in daily research activities and requires that researchers should ensure the safety and security of their participants, along with the confidentiality of their data.
Safety and Security of Participants
The protection that the rights and welfare of those that volunteer to take part in the research is an essential aspect of ethical research. Whether evaluating a new medical treatment, conducting interviews of individuals about their habits, or engaging in a study of how individuals think and feel, research is structured on learning new things regarding the human condition (Pietilia et al., 2020). Research that involves human participants has become a vast academic activity. Hence, there has been extensive growth and development in regard to the requirements that exist for researchers to protect the safety and security of their participants. According to the APA guidelines, some of the steps that can be taken to enforce this includes;
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Know state and federal regulations
When structuring a system that will ensure the safety and security of participants, researchers should ensure that they are aware of any state and federal regulations which guard this process. This is essential to ensure that researchers are aware of any ethical and legal obligations. An example of a state regulation that concerns the security and safety of participants is 45 CFR Part 46, also known as 'The Common Rule,' which is a policy that details the protection of human subjects and required for each federally-funded proposed research that involves human participants.
Conducting an Independent review
Another way to protect participants from any harm or risks associated with the research process is conducting a review by a third party of every risk and potential advantages. One of the main channels of protection for participants is the assurance that another individual, apart from the researcher, has conducted an assessment of the risks linked to the research (Swain, 2016). Participants should not take part in the process unless the review results in the conclusion that the risks cause minimum harm in comparison to the benefits presented by the process.
The independent review of a research process is important as it enables an improvement of the chance that the decisions are made away from any inappropriate influence. This is because an inappropriate influence can result in the distortion of the main tasks of evaluating risks and potential benefits. Hence, participants should only be involved in the research process if the review identified that the benefits of the research far outweigh the existing risks. In this case, the researcher can then engage participants in collecting the data.
Responses to the complaints of participants
The researchers should ensure that they design a system for detecting harm to participants. For example, the researcher could engage in a follow-up assessment of the mental health of the participants after they engage in the research process. The feedback of participants during and after a research process act as a valuable tool for research. If during the research, or following the data collection process, there is a complaint by a participant about a negative experience, the researcher is expected to relate this information to their supervisor and use the feedback for the improvement of future experiments.
Obtaining informed consent
One of the main ways that the privacy and security of participants are secured is through the solicitation of informed consent. In some cases, the researchers assist their participants in the comprehension and acceptance of the potential risks associated with the research process using the research form (Artal et al., 2017). In the cases where a review finds that the associated risks are minimum, no participant should take part in the research process without the provision of voluntary consent. Researchers have to appropriately disclose all the research information and make sure that participants properly comprehend the information and their choices, not only when joining the research process, but also across the entire process.
Obtaining informed consent acts as one of the best ways that researchers can showcase their concern and respect for the participants that take part in the study. It also acts as the best channel for individuals that do not want to take part in the process to protect themselves. Emphasis should be placed on the provision of information and ensuring comprehension instead of just providing the participants with a form of documentation. Both the information and the way it is provided should be personalized to the needs of the participants in the particular research context.
Obtaining Voluntary Consent
Aside from informed consent, obtaining voluntary consent is also an essential aspect of research ethics. For consent to be voluntary, the procedure should be free of coercion or any undue influence. When provided with full disclosure concerning the research process, emphasis should be placed on making sure that consent is provided from free will (Artal et al., 2017). The participant should not be forced by any third party or the researcher to take part in the researcher. This will ensure that the researchers are fully prepared to engage in the process.
Confidentiality of Data
The confidentiality of data should be prioritized at the time of the research process. The data collected is essential as findings can be applied in the relevant field, but are also valuable to the participants from which it was collected. Hence, the researchers hold a responsibility to ensure that the confidentiality of data collected from participants is safe. Data confidentiality is related to the awareness and preparation of researchers to ensure that data is not exposed to any third party that has no relation to the research (Petrova et al., 2016). Upholding the rights of individuals to confidentiality and privacy is a central aspect within the APA guideline to ethical research. Research participants also hold the freedom to make a choice on the level of information about themselves that they are willing to reveal. Based on this, there are several precautions that can be taken to ensure the confidentiality of data is maintained;
Comprehension of the law
The law surrounding the protection of data is highly complicated. For example, the Data Protection Act is structured to make sure that data undergoes processing in a way that reduces the risk to the privacy of these involves. The guidelines within this act revolve around seven main principles, which are important to protecting the security of information. These guidelines state that researchers should engage in the fair and lawful processing of data. Secondly, researchers should ensure that data is only utilized for the stated purpose. Thirdly, only data that has relevance and accuracy can be collected. The law also states that personal data that is collected must be accurate.
The fifth principle state that personal information cannot be kept for a period that extends what was needed to achieve its purpose (Petrova et al., 2016). The participants also have the right to requesting access to their personal data at any time. Lastly, detailed security measures should be undertaken to ensure that the data collected and being stored are protected.
Anonymity of data
The anonymity of data involves ensuring that personal details that could be used to identify the participant are not included. The first step to ensuring that data is secure is to engage in anonymizing content. In face-to-face research, this may involve the redaction of the names of participants within transcripts and their replacement with descriptors that cannot be used for identification (Lancaster, 2017). In online research, the procedure is easier and involves the replacement of the names of participants with particular screen names.
There are two reasons for which the anonymity of data is essential. The first is ensuring that the users of data are not able to relate specific responses with particular individuals. This prevents the users of data from presenting differentiated treatment to the identified participants. The second reason is to protect the participant in the case of a data breach or theft. This means that even when non-authorized third parties are able to access the data, they cannot relate the data to the participants.
Control of Access
Another precautionary measure that researchers can take to protect the confidentiality of their participants and data is the control of the individuals that can access it and the periods in which it can be accessed (Petrova et al., 2016). Based on this, researchers should ensure that the minimum number of individuals possible re able to gain access to the complete data. When there is a dissemination of data across an organization and to its end users, the data should have already undergone the anonymizing procedure. Only the front-line researchers have the ability to access the research and data at any particular time.
Encryption of Files
Encryption acts of the most common methods to ensure data confidentiality. It can be described as a mathematical science of codes and ciphers. It is the procedure of scrambling data into an unreadable format (Kinder-Kurlanda et al., 2019). This protects information and files as they get distributed across different networks and devices. Without access to the encryption key, individuals cannot understand the data. On the other hand, when senders and receivers hold similar ciphers, data can undergo processing through the cipher. Therefore, through encryption, only the authorized senders and receivers can access the participant data and keeps it away from malicious third parties.
Backups and copies
One of the most significant components of data confidentiality is making sure that any existing backups and copies are under control and secured by the researcher. Hence, all backup copies should be in proper storage, which is separate from the original documents. There should also be a minimal amount of copies held at any time, and the location should be tightly controlled.
Based on these guidelines, it is important to ensure that the simplest way of maintaining the confidentiality of data is to ensure that only the data needed for the research is collected and stored (Lancaster, 2017). This means that no excessive data will actually be held by the problem as the case of a data breach may emphasize the exposure of the participants. When attempting to maintain the confidentiality of participants and the confidentiality of data, researchers should ensure that these guidelines are followed.
Application of Ethical Guidelines
As I believe that ethical guidelines are an essential aspect of any research process, I plan to ensure that my research is ethically conducted. This will involve making sure that my research process does not result in harm to any of the research participants or expose any of their details to any authorized third parties.
One of the ways I can conduct my research ethically is by ensuring the safety and security of participants. This means that my participants will be protected from any harm or risks associated with the research process, according to the guidelines provided by the APA. The first step in this will be ensuring I understand any state and federal regulations that affect my research process. I will then ask my colleague to conduct an independent review of the process to understand whether the associated risks are reasonable. This will include ensuring that the benefits of the process outweigh the risks. Any feedback that is presented by the participants will also be used to structure the research process to ensure the safety of the process. Lastly, I will ensure that informed and voluntary consent is collected from the participants based on their comprehension and acceptance of the risks within the process.
Another way I will ensure that ethical guidelines are implemented within the research process is by protecting the confidentiality of the participants and the data that is collected. I will anonymize all the data collected and remove any identifiable descriptors of the participants. This will support the anonymity of the participants. I will also control access to the data collected within the process. This will involve restricting the individuals that can access the data and the times in which it can be accessed. The data related to the research process will also be encrypted, and all backups and copies will be properly stored.
References
Artal, R., & Rubenfeld, S. (2017). Ethical issues in research. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology , 43 , 107-114.
Kinder-Kurlanda, K., & Zimmer, M. (2019, June). Web Research Ethics: Confidentiality, Consent, Data Integrity & More. In Companion Publication of the 10th ACM Conference on Web Science (pp. 21-22).
Lancaster, K. (2017). Confidentiality, anonymity and power relations in elite interviewing: conducting qualitative policy research in a politicised domain. International Journal of Social Research Methodology , 20 (1), 93-103.
Petrova, E., Dewing, J., & Camilleri, M. (2016). Confidentiality in participatory research: Challenges from one study. Nursing ethics , 23 (4), 442-454.
Pietilä, A. M., Nurmi, S. M., Halkoaho, A., & Kyngäs, H. (2020). Qualitative Research: Ethical Considerations. In The Application of Content Analysis in Nursing Science Research (pp. 49-69). Springer, Cham.
Swain, J. (2016). Ethical Considerations in Research and Education. SAGE Publications.
